TOWN OF WALLKILL — Christopher McNamee got to Orange County's job fair before it opened Wednesday morning, chatted up a representative of United Natural Foods and left his resume.

"The early bird gets the worm, right?" McNamee said later as he patrolled the fair at the Galleria at Crystal Run.

More than 60 employers ranging from not-for-profit agencies to insurance and financial services companies, from manufacturers to healthcare businesses, turned out to woo potential workers.

McNamee, of Pine Bush, said he has been unemployed since April, when he was part of a layoff. He said he was an "enthusiastic manager" looking to put decades of experience to work.

"I've always been able to take our dissatisfied customers and make them our best customers," McNamee said.

United Natural Foods sought to fill more than 100 jobs Wednesday for its warehouse under construction in Montgomery. Truck drivers were also in demand, said Jeffrey Graham, human resource manager.

"It's been nonstop," Graham said. He and his associates had spoken to 100 people less than two hours into the fair.

Douglas Rabess of New York Life Insurance Co. in New Windsor, knew what he wanted in people vying for financial services positions.

"Are they coachable, ambitious, with an entrepreneur's mindset?" Rabess said. "And you have to care about people, and like working with people."

Pat Snoop, office administrator for Mechanical Rubber in Warwick, sought workers interested enough in the business to research it and ask plenty of questions. Three of eight people who left resumes by late morning came specifically to apply at Mechanical Rubber.

The fair drew people who were unemployed, underemployed or simply looking for better jobs. Full-time work with benefits was a priority.

Orange County's unemployment rate was 6.3 percent in March, the most recent figure available from the state Department of Labor.

Lindsay Knapp of Montgomery said she has been unemployed since March 2013, when her employer, an accounting firm, downsized the office staff. She had worked there for more than four years. Her online job applications go unanswered, she said, a common complaint among job seekers these days.

"I like it better here, because I get to talk to the people," said Knapp, who sought a clerical job.